The Ambiguously Gay Duo
The Ambiguously Gay Duo is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on The Dana Carvey Show before moving to its permanent home on Saturday Night Live. It is created and produced by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches. It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, respectively, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question. Background The Ambiguously Gay Duo is a parody of the stereotypical comic book superhero duo. The characters are clad in matching pastel turquoise tights, dark blue domino masks, and bright yellow coordinated gauntlets, boots and shorts. The shorts were intended to satirize suggestions that early Batman comics implied a homosexual relationship between the eponymous title character and his sidekick and protégé Robin, a charge most infamously leveled by Fredric Wertham in his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, the research methodology for which was later discredited. The typical episode usually begins with the duo's arch-nemesis Bighead, a criminal mastermind with an abnormally large cranium. Bighead is usually briefing his henchmen on a plot for some grandiose plan for world domination, interrupted by a debate as to whether or not Ace and Gary (The Ambiguously Gay Duo) are gay. Once the crime is in process, the police commissioner calls on the superheroes to save the day, often engaging in similar debates with the chief of police. Ace and Gary set out to foil the evil plan, but not before calling attention to themselves with outrageous antics and innuendo, and behaving in ways perceived by other characters to be stereotypically homosexual, as in this conversation from the first episode: Ace, (patting Gary on the buttocks). Good job, friend-of-friends! Villains/Bystanders and ghastly stares Ace. What's everybody looking at? Villains/Bystanders, in unison. NOTHING! Similar gags appear in almost every episode. Episodes not following this general formula have featured Ace and Gary answering fan mail or offering child safety tips. One such episode entails Ace and Gary giving children a ride home in their Duocar and offering home decorating tips, all while blithely making various suggestive gestures and comments. Characters * Ace is the leader of the duo. He is mentor to Gary, refers to him as “friend of friends,” and has a wide array of superpowers reminiscent of Superman. * Gary, Ace's sidekick, is the younger of the duo. Gary is less experienced, and has fewer superpowers than Ace. His powers include super strength, breath, stamina, and flexibility. * The Police Commissioner is the duo's primary contact, and when trouble arises, he makes the call to their hangout. His calls tend to interrupt a workout of some kind, with one or the other of the duo shirtless. The commissioner, voiced by Steve Carell, believes Ace and Gary might not be gay. * The Chief of Police hangs out with the commissioner, apparently waiting to find evidence in support of his confident belief that Ace and Gary are, in fact, gay. He and the commissioner are endlessly engaged in debate over their positions on this subject. * Bighead, (inspired by C.C. Beck's "Dr. Sivana") as the name might suggest, sports a very large, bald head, and is usually the brains behind most of the evil schemes. Second only to his primary vocation of mad scientist is his obsession with outing the superheroes as gay, which tends to annoy his co-conspirators because they do not care about the duo's sexuality and only want to defeat them in order to rule the world. He is constantly criticized for the amount of energy he invests in this pursuit. Bighead is voiced by Robert Smigel * Dr. Brainio is probably named for the auxiliary brain he has attached to his skull with cables and tubing. He occasionally partners with Bighead, but is quite a bit more undecided about Ace and Gary. Dr. Brainio is voiced by Stephen Colbert. * Orbitrox is a small, green, free-floating droid who sides with Bighead on the question of Ace and Gary's sexual orientation. Orbitrox has proffered evidence of their having visited gay bars, but emphatically denies visiting himself, snapping in subtitled form, "Back off dickweed, it's research!" * Kijoro, an obvious parody of Superman's Jor-El, is the duo's mentor whose spirit resides in the "Fortress of Privacy." He offers his advice from time to time when Ace and Gary seek counsel. Episode guide Other appearances * January 12, 2002 (Josh Hartnett/Pink), The Ambiguously Gay Duo makes a surprise appearance in The X-Presidents – the Hunt for Osama. * April 29, 2006, The Ambiguously Gay duo co-hosted Saturday Night Live: The Best of TV Funhouse. The hosting duties included the opening monologue performed by Ace and Gary, plus new animated/live-action material during the pre-commercial and post-commercial bumpers. It was revealed during these bumper segments that they seem to have an undying obsession with former cast member Jimmy Fallon. The show ended with the duo taking cast members Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg to their secret headquarters — both naked — in the penis-shaped car, with announcer Don Pardo begging to be taken with them and a spurned Fallon looking on from his apartment window with tears in his eyes. Notes Category:Fictional comedy characters Category:Saturday Night Live sketches Category:Superheroes Category:Television series